52 
H. Or. FORDHAM-THE METEORITE 
Discussion of Observations. 
In discussing the observations recorded above, and in endeavouring 
to deduce from them the course and altitude of the meteorite, and 
the cause of the sounds and shock experienced, it will he convenient 
to deal separately with the several distinct points upon which in¬ 
formation has been collected, under the following heads :—(1) Area 
affected; (2) Area of well-marked aerial disturbance ; (3) Apparent 
direction from which disturbance reached various localities; (4) 
Summary of deductions from evidence of effects of aerial disturb¬ 
ance ; (5) Yisual observations of meteorite; (6) General summary. 
(1) Area affected. 
On referring to the map accompanying this paper (Plate II), it 
will he seen that a somewhat irregular area is defined by the 
localities from which a record of the sound of the meteorite has 
been received. It shows, however, a well-marked elongation upon 
a line E.N.E. and W.S.W., of which Bury St. Edmunds and Upper 
Lamborne are the extreme points, this line being about 105 miles 
in length. The two most easterly points at which the sound was 
observed, Westley near Bury St. Edmunds, and Newmarket, are, 
it should he noted, single instances of observation, separated by a 
considerable space from one another and from any other localities 
in which the sound was heard. At Newmarket the sound must 
have been very slight. At Westley there is evidence of direction 
and of a defined sound, but, apparently, of very distant origin. 
Taking the Westley-Upper Lamborne line as the major axis of 
the area of aerial disturbance, and following the assumed course of 
the meteorite from E. to W., the first wide and general preva¬ 
lence of the sound occurs on a N.N.W. and S.S.E. line terminating 
at Cambridge and Saffron Walden, 14 miles apart. To the 
westward the sound was very generally noticed, and the recorded 
observations become numerous, the area affected widening to about 
32 miles between Bisely and a point a little N. of Hertford. To 
the W. of Bisely, as far as Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, the 
sound has not extended so far to the N.W.; Bedford, Bow Brickhill, 
and Buckingham marking its north-western limits. On the S., 
however, it has, throughout Herts, reached as far as Hatfield, St. 
Albans, and Watford. Between Bow Brickhill and Watford the 
distance is about 27 miles; Bow Brickhill being 11 miles distant 
from the imaginary Westley-Lamborne line, and Watford 16. West¬ 
ward of Watford again for some distance the shock has extended 
but little to the S.E., the neighbourhood of Wendover being the 
limit. At the same time there is an increased extension to the 
N.W. as far as Sulgrave, and to an isolated point near Leamington 
(Cubbington), the latter as much as 50 miles N.N.W. from Wen¬ 
dover. More to the westward the area affected is again enlarged, 
making an irregular figure, of which Bisham near Maidenhead, 
and Beading are extreme S.E. points, and Bicester, Sandford St. 
Martin, and Oxford define its limits to the N.W., the distance 
